The end of this Blog.

Some of you might be asking why I would stop writing entries to this blog now. Let me go over the reason that I started and what I have found along the way.

For 5 years, I haven't been trying to make money, just to change things for the better. I decided to start writing about Carbondale business development and SIUC because I wanted to organize my thoughts. Really dig into what I was doing here and how I could do better. In the past I have done this and it has really helped me make correct decisions.

Here is what I found -

• SIUC is corrupt and is going to lose 10% to 20% of their students in the next 5 years. Bank on it.
• Illinois is corrupt and is a bigger version of SIUC. To many layers of government, to much corruption, to many family members on payroll, to much cheating and hiding behind political contacts. Hey, Chicago is in the state and that is the benchmark for political corruption.
• Brad Cole is a good mayor and has improved Carbondale in his time in office.
• Walker and Wendler are bad managers for SIUC. They have hurt the institution more then I thought was possible in 5 years.
• SIU administrators are paid more then their peers and SIU Professors are paid less.
• I'm guessing that the people digging into the College of Mass Comm mess have some real dirt and there is a real chance that people are going to jail over it.
  
• There are no people to start business in Southern Illinois, as defined by people who are 30 to 50 with a college degree. They have all moved away.
  
• We have no clue as a society what we are missing.
• People in Southern Illinois are nice.
• The place is beautiful.
• There is plenty of money looking for deals, but there are no deals.

Not much good news there. This is what I found out about myself.

• I like high tech. I started when I was 13 and I'm not ready to retire.
• If I stay in Southern Illinois, I must stop doing high tech and really retire or change businesses.
• There is no one to learn from about my business. Though I have a group of friends who are as smart and knowledgeable as anyone I have known before. It is no fun being the lone Indian.
• I enjoy writing. I have been sending hundreds of emails for years, it isn't that surprising, but writing my little blog has been fun.

My original plan was to move to Southern Illinois and split my time between being an Angel Investor and building furniture. I think this is still a good idea and I'm going to pursue it. I can't do that here, so like almost everyone who comes to Southern Illinois I'm going to vote with my feet and leave this place.

Two ideas for you -
"You can't help people who don't want to be helped." - Ross Perot
"Southern Illinois is experiencing social Darwinism." - a local smart guy. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to name him.

I'll still be working on my Art Blog on BoundlessGallery.com. Still be in town until next summer, but I'm going to stop thinking about this now and do some real work for a while.

Thanks to each of you who took the time to comment and make this blog come to life for just a little while. I enjoyed your input more then you can know.

I have a little plaque on my desk that I have had for a few years, that is kind of a motto of mine, "What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?" Think about it, you could be doing so much more than waiting for spoiled table scraps to fall your way.

As always, your comments are welcome.